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(Best months for planting Lettuce in New Zealand - cool/mountain regions)

• Easy to grow.
• Harvest in 60-85 days
• Sow in garden, or start in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed.
• Best planted at soil temperatures between 8°C and 27°C.
• Space plants: 20-30cm

Lettuce offer a range of shapes, sizes and colours but they are all easy to grow. Choose a variety marked on the seed packet as suitable for the time of year as some do badly in the very hot months. Try to provide some shade to prevent them 'bolting' to flower and seed in the hottest months.

Sow in rows and use thinnings as small salad greens

Lettuce are shallow rooted so water daily in hot or dry weather to prevent bitter flavour. and bolting.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Lettuce

Wash well, spin or shake dry and use in salads and sandwiches

Your comments and tips

05 Feb 11 peg (New Zealand - temperate climate)

letuce love growing in wood chips, near the old farm chopping block we grew beauties

17 Mar 11 Moses (New Zealand - temperate climate)

I am trying to grow lettuce in a ice cream container, on top of another container with water which i have a wick cut fron a face towel. will this work just did it today Friday march 18. I drilled holes in the top container and put a couple of sticks between the 2 containers to allow it to aerate. will this work and should i keep them inside or what. thankyou

17 Mar 11 Liz (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)

Moses, your lettuces will need plenty of daylight, so if you keep them inside, put them near a window. Most lettuces will grow quite well outside unless it is frosty.

12 Jan 12 Linda (New Zealand - temperate climate)

We have been growing some curly leafed lettuce and the leaves are very tough, can anyone suggest a reason for this?

15 Jan 12 Kiri (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)

Lettuce love spring and autumn but in the summer it is too hot and they don't grow tasty not in full sun. I have been told that they can grow in summer tasty but in the shade or perhaps 1/2 shade. I am trying them in the shade with some success (not as good as in the spring) (under a melon) and I am trying other experiments at the moment under shade cloth and in a part shaded potting shed. They also need plenty of water.